Part 2: Falling Star
by Li'l Thanatos
Summary: Following the events of "Shooting Star," the business surrounding the uncouth Topaz is far from over. She is being held under scrutiny, and all Steven wants to do is help her. But the greatest mystery is how is he to help someone who tries with all their might to fight him at every turn? Part 2 of the 3-part "Rising Star" original series of Steven Universe. -R.A.W.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, this is Part 2 of the 3-Part "Rising Star" Series. To find Part 1, which was drawn in comic form, search for my Tumblr: Lil-Thanatos. Everything I post to do with Topaz is listed with #Topaz. It's been a long time spent with Topaz since I first met her. And it is the greatest thing to bring her to life, but also the heaviest thing to be my own worst enemy as I try to bring her to life. I claim not to be a professional storyteller-yet, anyway-but she has come to mean so much to me, and it is my hope that you, the reader, find enjoyment in her. I don't want to keep her all to myself. *The events of the plot take place prior to "Catch and Release."* -R.A.W.**

* * *

 _Part 2: Falling Star_

Little Steven was playing 'Not-That-Sorry' with Amethyst and Pearl at the coffee table. So far, Amethyst was winning, holding most of Steven's and Pearl's characters in her prison under false pretenses (Pearl's more so). If ever either of them managed to bail any of their characters out, they'd be homeless (as they'd have lost any familial relations) and be forced to roam on the game spaces tracing the perimeter of the board, as beggars, fenced away from moral and law-abiding society like lepers. It was either that, or death row. Amethyst sure didn't feel sorry for Pearl as she was bickering up a storm at the ludicrous and overtly complex rules of this lamentable little board game. It was because of that, that she was down to her last free man who still had legal right to his home, wife and kids that she was making such a fuss (and also, well, she was losing to Amethyst). Amethyst just laughed at her, while Steven laughed purely for fun. But those are the stakes when you play 'Not-That-Sorry!'

As Amethyst was about to jail Pearl's last free man under the wrongful conviction of premeditated murder, the Temple door opened. Garnet stepped out, but what followed her was incredulous screaming—a voice of incoherent fire and carnage. Steven's laughter died immediately, and the house felt empty. The doorway closed behind Garnet, and the screaming disappeared. Things were quiet for a while, as Garnet entered the living space. Amethyst and Pearl silently turned back to the board game, asking no questions. Steven, though, more curious than a cat on its last life, simply said, "Garnet?"

She walked over to their game and said, "What are you playing?"

Pearl piped up, hands a-flailing, "Oh, it's this wonderful game called 'Not-That-Sorry.' Apparently, the object is to, um, imprison all other player's pieces, or render them homeless?"

"Sounds like fun."

"Pearl just lost," proclaimed Amethyst, "I took all her guys! She really stinks at board games!"

Pearl defended herself, saying, "Well, if the rules to these games weren't so senseless—"

"Guys!" said Steven. They all looked at him. "I know you're just trying to protect me, but I'm a Crystal Gem, too. Garnet, what was that?"

There was a silence among them, until Garnet spoke up. "Steven," she said, "What you just heard was Topaz."

"Topaz?! But we bubbled her!"

"I un-bubbled her. There are many things we still don't know about the Gem Homeworld or exactly what they're capable of. I'm not going to lie to you, Steven, they'll probably send more Gems our way, and any intelligence could mean an advantage, and we need to gather as much as we can so we can prepare as necessary. So far, Topaz has been… uncooperative, to say the least." Steven looked down at the board game populated with prisoners and homeless men thoughtfully. "But, don't worry. We won't let anyone hurt this planet without a fight."

Pearl lifted her nose in confidence and said, "That's right. They'll have to go through us first."

Then Amethyst flexed and said, "Yeah, they got nothin' on these guns!"

Steven laughed. Then Garnet suggested, "Why don't we play a different game. I'll join you."

Steven jumped up in jubilation, saying, "Oh! I know just the one!" He rummaged the storage space under the stairs and wriggled loose a jangling box depicting a caricatured and colorful electoral debate, with the four candidates raising their fingers at each other. "The name of the game is 'Political Party!' This once great nation is falling apart! The people are in need of change!" Soon, Pearl, once again, began to vehemently voice her opinion on the matter of rules for a board game designed for ages six and up.

…

That night, after the Crystal Gems had all gone to their Rooms, and Steven was tucked away in his bed, he thought about Topaz and his first meeting—more or less—with her. _She seems so unhappy._ The last thing he saw before he fell asleep (and before Pearl snuck out of her Room to spy on him sleeping) was the waxing moon over the serene ocean tide.


	2. Chapter 2

Nothing much happened in terms of magical destiny over the next week. Connie came over a few days ago and Steven updated her about Topaz. "Does it scare you?" she said.

"Scare me? Why would it scare me?"

"Well, I mean, for all intents and purposes, she's a prisoner of war, right? Having someone felonious—uh, bad—in your own home seems scary to me."

"Prisoner?" Steven mulled it over. "I don't think so. The Crystal Gems round up all these corrupted Gems because we don't know what to do to help them yet. It's for their own good and for the planet's for now." Steven looked at Connie, concerned. "That's not a prisoner. Right?"

"I don't know. That seems just. But what is Topaz? She's not corrupted like the others, is she?" Steven later looked up the definitions of 'prisoner' and 'prisoner of war,' and the related terms 'hostage' and 'captive,' on his phone. He grew increasingly uncertain reading about the tags to these terms, and about what happens to such labels, especially for prisoners of war.

Today, while Steven and Amethyst (Pearl was in her Room about this hour each day) were playing one 'o them smash-'em-up-beat-'em-up vidja games, Garnet emerged from the Temple. She made straight for the front door without noticing Steven and Amethyst upstairs (or certainly seemed like she didn't). For several days, there was something in Steven that told him that Garnet was troubled, despite her never conscientiously expressing it. Something subtle in the way she moved—stiffly—the way she spoke—with less words than usual—and the way she'd just beelined for the front deck now, made Steven dig up his thoughts of Topaz. As Steven's attention drifted from the game, Amethyst blew him to smithereens. "OOOHHH!" she exclaimed, throwing her thug-fingers at Steven, "Wazzup, BOOYYY! You got nothin'!"

Steven laughed a little, "You got me." He stood up.

"Yo, everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just wanna take a break."

"Pshh, you just afraid of mah mad skillz." She got up, too. "Eh, I was hungry anyway." Amethyst made for the fridge while Steven went outside. Garnet was down by the beach, looking out, statuesque, with a hand on her hip. Steven went to her. "Hello, Steven," she said to the ocean.

"Hey," he replied, perhaps sounding more meek than he intended.

"Everything ok?"

"I don't know. I thought maybe I could ask you the same thing? Is something bothering you?"

"Mm," she began, "It's nothing I can't handle." With his hands in his pockets, Steven slid off his left sandal and dug his toes into the sand. "That not the only thing on your mind?"

Half his foot was buried. "Garnet," he said, and realized just how estranged he felt from her in this moment with his next question and the ideas following it on his mind; it was odd to him that he didn't want to get any closer to her. "Are all of the Gems we collect our prisoners?" The words came out like grease.

Garnet said, "Steven, you know they aren't. All the Gems in the Temple used to be just like us. But they've been corrupted. We keep them dormant for the time being, because we don't know how we can help them. That's how they'll stay until we do. It's the best we can do for them, and for the world."

"Yeah. I know. But…" Steven dug his toes a little deeper.

"'But'?"

"…What about Topaz?"

"Topaz is a threat not only to us, but to our world. It's best we keep her here."

Steven said quickly, "Is she a prisoner of war?"

"She's—"

"You're not lynching her by her toes, or-or waterlogging her, or-or holding her in other cruel and unusual ways, are you?!"

Garnet, stolid, was silent a moment, then walked over to Steven. She knelt. "I'm not torturing her. Don't ever worry about that. As for being our prisoner… I suppose you could put it that way." This wasn't what Steven wanted to hear, but he found some closure in it, the way Garnet spoke. "But, you have to understand, Topaz is _dangerous._ She'll stop at nothing to hurt us and this planet. This is our only option. We haven't any other choice, no matter how we wish otherwise." Steven looked at his buried foot, and wiggled his toes, lifting the sand and letting it fall, then reburying his foot. Garnet, on his level, put her hands on his shoulders. "Some people you can't change. The only way for them to change is for them, themself, to want such change. And if it isn't there, there's nothing we can do." Steven looked Garnet in her shades. He couldn't see her eyes, but he knew they were looking back, maybe finding his as difficult to search as for him hers? They embraced. "How about we go play a game to get both our minds off things." Garnet stood, and Steven unburied his foot.

…

The next day, when all that malarkey seemed behind him, Steven was with Amethyst in her Room, searching for the shooting star, which Amethyst had taken without permission and promptly lost. Now here she and Steven were, at Garnet's insistence.

"How was I s'posed to know it was super important?" said Amethyst. "It was just _sitting_ there in a bowl on the counter. All pretty and stuff."

Steven laughed, saying, "Speaking of pretty… Look at this thing!" He rummaged free from one of Amethyst's hoard piles an antique doll, surprisingly intact, made of China. Steven held it delicately. Its most striking feature was its eyes.

"What," gasped Amethyst, "I haven't seen this baby in forever!"

"She looks so sweet."

"Mm, prolly 'cause she's got some dead guy's bones in her belly!"

Steven gasped, "WHAT!?" He shoved the doll at Amethyst. She laughed at him and chased him with it, making spooky sounds. Fortunately for Steven, it wasn't hard to get lost in Amethyst's Room, and spontaneously, amidst the hijinks, he stumbled upon the area in her Room with the waterfall, the river and the diaspora of puddles. At least two of these puddles lead to either of the other Gems' Rooms, he recalled, and if he recalled correctly, this large one by the tallest pile of "keepsakes" led to Pearl's, and that small one, two piles over, led to Garnet's. Amethyst was still on the prowl somewhere, but Steven thought about Garnet, what she said yesterday, as he walked toward her puddle. He looked at his reflection in it, grabbing his Gem. He wondered how exactly Garnet was handling Topaz and he was compelled. It's the same feeling he gets whenever something dire, testing, or wayward occurs. It was the impulse to do something and to do right by it. The feeling always radiated from his stomach—and it was telling him to look.

Steven braced himself, half-wondering as he was about to plunge headfirst into the puddle if Amethyst did this sort of thing on a regular basis, spying on the others, as a serial eavesdropper. Steven dropped and dunked his head into the puddle—only to smash his face on the ground beneath it. He resurfaced and rubbed his poor nose. Come to think of it, perhaps it was the puddle _next_ to this one that led to Garnet's Room. He dried his face and crawled over to it, and went _slowly_ this time—and was welcomed by, from Garnet's ceiling, a deep warm red of things, yet unwelcomed by the hardness of those things—even the roots that meandered harshly down (of where Steven never questioned came from till now) felt no remorse as they obstructed his view, seemed _solid._ Through the roots, floating about them, were some bubbled Gems—and a bag of 'Chaaaps'—that he could see. Past those, set in the bedrock were concentric artisan rings in which freely flowed lava from the well in the center of everything, of the Room; the lava made everything iridescent and redder.

Garnet was not here. He knew he'd be in big trouble for even rubbernecking into her Room, but, sometimes, the need to do something was overpowering, and when it got this powerful, Steven knew by now he could trust it, that it meant something, and it was the right kind of something.

From his perspective, through Amethyst's floor and Garnet's ceiling, he could see about half the Room. There was nothing new. But then he caught a sound. It was mumbling. Garnet doesn't mumble (nor does she sound not British). Steven dunked himself a little further, grabbing hold of one of the roots for support, to see more. Near the far wall, opposite the entrance of the Room, sat something unexpected. In honesty, it resembled a sarcophagus, similar to the one in which King Tut was entombed. But it wasn't gold, and its visage wasn't that of a pharaoh but of a Gem—one Steven didn't recognize—whose head was shaped like a fine-cut diamond, with a sharp chin, nose, cheeks, lips and eyes. The mumbling _came_ from this sarcophagus.

Steven heard it say: "What can I do? …What can I say? …I hear them coming; just another day. …Voices, violence, fears. …Can't cover my ears."

Then, the sarcophagus started to sing:

It's so dark.  
It's so dry.  
As I lie—here in this cell.  
Left alone.  
In the black.  
Can't detract—from all the ways.  
Memories flood.  
Back to me.  
Dastardly—embracing me.  
Like the dark.  
Though it beats.  
In defeat—at all I see.

I see the sound.  
Through the ground.  
Of a thou—sand of us.  
Marching.  
To those towns.  
In a shroud.  
Burning down—all homes and hearts.  
Calling.  
At the crowds.  
On their knees.  
Begging please—  
Please.  
Please.  
Please.

In my Gem.  
This is why.  
I can't hide—the way I feel.  
About life.  
About you.  
If I could choose—another way.  
I'd want to be.  
Desperately.  
Hopelessly—internalized.  
Though I'd break.  
From the strain.  
Least the pain—would name just me.

But your eyes.  
I always fail.  
They impale—what once was there.  
Bygone.  
The small things.  
That you do.  
Now imbue—me with a hate.  
And cage.  
My only right.  
What's left of us.  
Can't I trust—you anymore?  
Can't I?  
Can't I?  
Can't I?

It's so dark.  
This is why.

I'd do everything I could do…

The song ended and the sarcophagus said, "Don't be see through…" Steven didn't quite understand the context of everything, but he understood one thing in that moment: even if Topaz didn't know it herself, she was crying out for help.

Then the Temple doors suddenly opened! Steven, clenching his butt cheeks, scrambled to pull himself up, and nearly fell in the process. He backed out of the puddle till the backs of his ears were touching the water. He saw Garnet walk in nonchalantly and he clenched tighter. When she passed him, he slunk back out again to look. She went over to the sarcophagus and put a hand over its heart. The sharp face of a diamond slid back from the jawline into the Nemes headdress, revealing Topaz, Steven assumed.

"Topaz," said Garnet. Steven couldn't see Topaz, and she didn't respond. "The Gems from Homeworld will return. Again, when, and why? What kind of technology and _who_ will we be facing? And how can we stop them?"

"…Again. How should I know? I'm not the one who gives orders. I'm the one who takes them. As for why, don't you know? You _Crystal_ Gems sure are on top of things on this miserable, lonely little planet."

"...From what I've seen of you and the others thus far," said Garnet "Homeworld seems to be the more miserable."

Topaz retorted, in a way that was either so pointed it seemed mechanical, or so mechanical that it seemed pointed, "We are mobilizing and colonizing. We make great strides every day in the name of progeny. We are _prosperous_. _"_

"Until you give me answers," said Garnet, sternly, "this is where you'll stay."

"What a _joke,_ " said Topaz. "You said it yourself, right? Homeworld's coming back, and when they do, and when I get out of here, I'm going to take your Gems and _grind_ them against each other till they're nothing but _dust._ " Garnet snarled at her and hit the sarcophagus in the heart with her fist. Topaz laughed hatefully, and she didn't stop when the sarcophagus' face slid back over hers. Garnet marched away, and Topaz made sure she heard her laughing at her until the Temple door closed behind her.

Then fleshy hands grasped Steven's shoulders and yanked him out of the puddle and into Amethyst's sand. "Steven, what are you _doing_?!" said Amethyst, in the hushed way you would when you're doing something you know you shouldn't.

Steven looked at her, coming from another world. "I'm sorry. It's just, Topaz is in there."

"Yeah, and so is Garnet, who, by the way, will kill us if she finds anyone in there!"

"No, I mean, Topaz was in this thing, and she was talking to herself, and then she started singing to herself, and, well, I'm not sure what any of it meant, but…"

Amethyst threw her hands up. "Steven, what does it matter? It's Garnet's business to deal with her, not ours. Let's just leave that junk to her."

"I don't know if Garnet can do this by herself," said Steven. "And I feel like…"

"Stop. Steven, you're not going to try anything. No, not with her."

"But, she can't go anywhere."

"She tried to kill us, in case you've forgotten. She tried to hurt _you._ "

"She didn't know us. I'm sure she was scared!"

"Steven!" stomped Amethyst, "She's the _enemy!_ She doesn't want anything to do with us. She'd kill us if she got the chance!" She crossed her arms at him.

Steven looked at her in a way that seemed almost lost. "Well, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to understand her. Or understand why Homeworld decides to come back after all this time. They didn't even know we were still here."

Amethyst stood there a minute and blew some hair out of her face. Then she released her arms, with something, looked back at Steven, and with some optimism said, "Yeah, if we just knew what Homeworld wanted so badly, we could figure out better how to deal with them." Steven brightened. "I mean, she is locked up, right? What _can_ she do to us?" Then, more to herself, she said, "Then we could tell Garnet, and hopefully she'll forget about me losing the shooting star, or coming into her Room in the first place, and think I'm cool." Steven dispirited. Then, with stars in her eyes, Amethyst said, "Let's do it!"

Steven took what he could get. "Uh, yeah! Let's interrogate!"

Amethyst summoned her whip and dunked her head for a quick peek into Garnet's room. She tied the end of her whip around Steven's waist and lowered him into the puddle. He descended into Garnet's room with the ease of cotton, using his energy from anticipation to act as a top secret spy. On the petrous floor, Amethyst willed her whip away. Steven suggested, "Let's be good cop-bad cop. You can be good cop, and I'll be," Steven scrunched his nose, furrowed his brow and pouted his lips, " _bad_ cop."

Amethyst said, "Uh, I jus' hope you know what you're doing."

"Nope," replied Steven, "I never do!"

Steven Universe, with his lips pouty, approached the sarcophagus on his toes. However, the closer he got the more daunted he became, and his pout fell into unease. The full effect of "not knowing what he was doing" ramified in his belly. But Steven's resolve was unshakeable.

The sarcophagus seemed much bigger up close, easily the length of three Stevens plus an Amethyst and a half. Steven didn't know what it was made out of but it looked very solid. He looked back at Amethyst, who, with uncertainty, gave him a fleeting smirk that signaled "yeah, this is the real deal" and/or "here goes nothin'." And it was at this point that the plan for 'good cop-bad cop' was forgotten.

Amethyst hoisted Steven on top of the sarcophagus and climbed up after him, sitting with him between her legs. The nemesis diamond staring at them both made them windless—it became so quiet for a few moments, until Amethyst broke it by reaching around Steven and pointing at the diamond indentation just below where the arms of the sarcophagus crossed, at the sternum. His wind turned to ice. But Steven pressed down on the indentation, to which the diamond face flung back heavily into its hood with a clack.

The first thing Steven saw were the bars flatly crisscrossing over the portal to the holding chamber; their gaps were too small for any Gem to slip through. Steven didn't want to touch them because he felt like they were hot. He couldn't see anything inside from this angle. Warily, he scooted himself up over the arms of the sarcophagus (the chamber was deeper than he expected)—and then the wind became hot and electric when he met Topaz eye to eye. It was one of those moments when imagination and reality don't exactly cooperate, and facing her now, Topaz looked just as discombobulated seeing Steven. Amethyst scooted up behind Steven, looking as well, around his big curly hair, at Topaz. _"You,"_ Topaz slewed. "What is this?"

"Um, hi!" greeted Steven, with a little smile, "I'm Steven, and this is Amethyst—"

"Yo," Amethyst said starkly.

"A-and, well—"

"What do you want? Why are you here? What are you doing?" Topaz intercepted.

"Well, we just—"

"Wait, shut up," said Topaz, " _Steven_ …" She searched his name.

"Th-that's me."

She spoke slowly, eyeing Steven with disgust, "You're the one who's supposed to be Rose Quartz. Why choose this _form?"_

"Oh, Rose was my mom! I'm just wittle ol' Steven."

"Your… _mom?"_ Topaz searched deeper.

"That's right," he said

She looked dubious. "…You consumed her from the inside, until you were able to sustain a physical form?"

"Wh-wha?"

"Steven," said Amethyst, "Gems don't have moms. They come from the ground, absorbing the life energy around them until they've gotten enough to dig themselves out." She wasn't very happy as she said this.

"Oh. Okay. I dunno about that, but," he said to the sarcophagus, then looking back to Topaz, "I wasn't born the way Gems are. I'm half-human!" He showed her his brilliant bellybutton.

Topaz grimaced. "How can something inorganic and organic create… _you?_ That doesn't make any sense."

"Well, I'm not quite sure about that either, but Amethyst and I are here to just talk with you. Calm, calm. Safely, safe." He smiled warmly. "So, why don't we start off with what brings you to Earth?"

"You think I'm dense?" she said.

"No, no," said Steven. "I would never think something like that." There was a moment of nothing. "So why has Homeworld decided to come back all of a sudden?"

A puff of wind escaped Topaz's lips in a plosion, "Doesn't your commandant tell you anything?"

"Who?"

"She means Garnet," said Amethyst.

"Her hair is stupid," added Topaz, in the _saltiest_ tone.

"Look who's talkin'," said Amethyst. Topaz just lazily eyeballed Amethyst.

"… _Anyway,_ " Steven tried to begin again, but was cut short.

"Her shades aren't hiding anything," said Topaz. "But like I told her, I don't know anything. I just take orders." She rested her head sideways and shut her eyes, locking in a determination that deemed them of no possible threat.

"You're the one with something to hide," retorted Amethyst.

"Yeah," Steven concurred, "what was all that stuff you were singing about?"

Topaz shot her eyes back up at him and looked at him sharply. "I wasn't singing…"

This took Steven a bit aback. "Yes, you were, I heard you. You were singing about someone, and trust, a-and …sounds?"

"No, I wasn't…"

Amethyst just laughed, saying, "Yeah, you're definitely hiding something! A lot of things by the looks of you!"

Steven grabbed her wrist, "Ame—"

"SHUT UP!" demanded Topaz, kicking the sarcophagus' intestines twice (it absorbed all the energy; Steven didn't feel her kicks). She glowered at Amethyst.

"Ugh," sighed Amethyst, "Steven, let's just go. If she won't tell Garnet anything, she's gonna tell us even less."

"Yes. Just go away." Topaz looked like they gave her a sour taste in her mouth.

"Hang on," said Steven, "I just… wanted to…" He was cut off for the fifth time, not by Topaz, but by the suddenness of the Temple door.

Amethyst's words shot through a peashooter, "Garnet's coming!" Frantic, she and Steven jumped down, nearly falling over each other—but not before mashing the sarcophagus in the sternum, masking Topaz's nasty face.

They hustled, and Amethyst quickly hauled Steven over her shoulder, and in a mighty bound leapt to the knot of roots 'round her puddle, the force of which dug her shoulder into Steven's stomach, making him nearly lose his lunch. Holding onto a root, she shoved Steven through first, sending him stumbling back into her room, tumbling face first into the sand. He spat sand while Amethyst eased herself out of the puddle, careful not to cause any splashing. When she made it through, she plopped down next to him and sighed heavily. "That was _too_ close," she said. Steven drabbled some indiscernible words over his tongue as he picked the grains of sand off it. "What?"

Steven spit one more time, "We've got to go back."

"Uh, no we don't."

"We've got to try again. Try it differently."

"We were almost caught!" contested Amethyst, "And we didn't even get anywhere. Why can't we just let Garnet handle it, and relax?"

"Because she needs help," said Steven.

"Garnet can deal with it herself—"

He shook his head, "No, not Garnet. _Topaz—_ she needs help, I feel it. I'm just not sure how."

Amethyst dug her fingers into the sand. "Steven, what does it matter? She's the enemy."

Steven recognized her tone as a lackluster acknowledgement of Steven being himself in a commendable way, but also the most inconvenient way. "That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to understand her. Maybe get her side of things, why she and Homeworld are doing these things. It would help us out, because didn't Garnet say any knowledge is valuable? And, maybe, in return, we could help her. Maybe. If she'll let us."

"She doesn't trust us, Steven. I don't think she ever will."

"But we don't even know her, not really," he said, grabbing Amethyst's hand that was digging. She looked at him. "Amethyst, Garnet can't do this by herself. She's always saying things about how we should things together, but when it comes to the really important things, she shuts us out. …And I can't do this by myself, either."

Amethyst took him in with warrior's fatigue and braced herself. "Fine. Just so long as you stop looking at me like that. We'll try again tomorrow. Now, come on. Let's find that shooting star so we can get something to eat." Amethyst no sooner said this, helping him up, than did Steven discover more grains of sand in his cheeks.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day the Crystal Gems—including Steven—had a mission to do, but the day a _fter_ that he and Amethyst made way into the Temple, and, after surveying and getting the go ahead for lack of Garnets, snuck again into the Red Room—the Bubble Chamber—Topaz's Tomb. Amethyst's enthusiasm this time was evanescent, but she helped Steven up onto the sarcophagus and sat behind him. She pressed on the sternum.

The diamond façade slid back—and there was Topaz, behind baleful bars, asleep. Well, "asleep" may not have been the best term to describe what they saw—maybe _"parasomnia"_ was better. She was tense and moving like a dog.

"Wake up," said Amethyst, to which Steven grabbed her wrist. Topaz started and rolled her head to the other side, and looked like she had to force her eyes to open. They did gradually, and she aimed one of them at Steven and Amethyst, processed what must've happened and who caused it, and remembered _everything._ Weight seemed to tumble into both her brow and eyelids, and she gave an almost imperceptible grunt of distaste. "Go. Away," she said, her throat sounding dry.

"Hi, Topaz," greeted Steven, a little awkwardly, "Sorry for waking you."

"You _will_ be sorry," she said bluntly, in the same sleepy voice.

"Hey, you're in no position to threaten us," interjected Amethyst.

Steven looked at Amethyst pleadingly, then back at Topaz who tilted her head back, eyes still shut, stretched the muscles in her neck, and inhaled petulantly, "Leave. Me. _Alone."_

Steven just looked over Topaz, following her neck down to her gem. He thought about how wild she was when he and the Crystal Gems first encountered her. He remembered how her gem felt in his hands after he unintentionally cut her in two with his bubble shield—it felt warm and weighted. She absolutely terrified him then. Steven did not resent her, though, nor outright fear her. Now, Steven wondered what she must think about cooped up in this coffin day and night, and what she is thinking about now. He wondered what she dreamt about. Steven looked at Amethyst, who looked back at him disconcertingly. He faced Topaz again, who hadn't moved—nor breathed—one bit.

"So, Topaz," Steven began, playing nonchalance, "can you tell me about yourself?"

At this, Topaz lost a good tonnage in her brow and, with her head still tilted back, looked up at him, over her big, curled nose. _"What?"_ she said flatly.

"You know, like, what you do, your interests and hobbies, your favorite flavor of ice cream, stuff like that." Steven was quite genuine.

It took Topaz a moment to respond. _"Why?"_

"Well, like I said, I want to help you—"

"Let me out—"

"Nope, not doin' it."

"Ooh, shot down by the Ste-Man," mocked Amethyst.

"Here, I'll start," said Steven, clearing his throat, "My occupation consists of, but isn't limited to: protecting the Earth and all humanity, maintaining balance throughout the world and within the Crystal Gems team, along with developing myself as a person and looking incredibly heroic and handsome doing it all! My hobbies and interests include magical destiny stuff and donuts, Dogcopter, Crying Breakfast Friends, and _The Spirit Morph Saga!_ And my favorite flavor of ice cream is—pfft!—all of them!"

"Way to humble yourself," snarked Amethyst, attacking Steven in his sides—he was _very_ ticklish. He couldn't keep himself from laughing, begging for Amethyst to stop. She laughed at his pain. Then Amethyst stopped not at Steven's urging, but as Topaz started to chuckle to herself. This excited Steven for a brief moment—until he realized she wasn't laughing out of joy, but laughed sarcastically, like she'd caught on to some bad joke.

"Okay, then," she started, lowering her chin, "You really want to know something about me?"

"Of course!"

She juxtaposed his hopeful gaze with her steely eyes. She didn't blink once as she responded. "My occupation consists of, but isn't limited to: Emancipating entire systems through conquest in the name of Progeny, willingly volunteering for whole espionage insertion efforts to carry out such seizure, and instilling fear in the hearts and minds of those who should dare oppose those efforts, and reveling every moment of it. My interests include: Long walks by wildfire, making others cry and dashing out the senses of my enemies." Steven was horrified to say the least! How could anyone say such things, much less, _enjoy_ them? "And as for my favorite flavor of… 'ice cream?'—the flavor of freedom sounds pretty tasty."

"How 'bout 'knuckle sandwich' flavor, huh? How does that sound?" said Amethyst baring her fist.

"…I also like digging," Topaz said genially.

Steven remarked warily, "Digging?"

"Graves," she said, looking at Amethyst, "Lots, and lots of graves…"

Amethyst deeply narrowed her gaze and pouted—electricity linked her and Topaz's pupils. "Don't make me come in there…"

"Okay!" declared Steven, interrupting the flow of electricity, "I think that's enough for now! Let's talk about something else!" He shifted his posture, not only because the tension in the Room was mounting—especially with the possibility that Garnet could walk in at any moment—but also because the sculpted hands of the diamond sarcophagus were hurting his butt. "What about Homeworld?"

"I told you. I don't know anything," shoveled Topaz.

"That's not what I meant," said Steven, "Can you tell me about your home? What's it like? Is it anything like Earth?" Topaz simply turned away and shut her eyes again, resuming her listless, breathless, mummy-like posture. But, this time—maybe because she wasn't asleep—she felt like she had about her a sensation of reverie—such secretive reverie. The wonderment of what she must be thinking about recurred to Steven, but he pushed that aside and started talking about _his_ home, about Earth. He told Topaz about how alive his planet is, how there are even living things _inside_ living things and how beautiful they were, big or small. He told her about the people and how funny and caring they can be. Then he told her about the people in his life: his dad, Connie and the Crystal Gems. He talked of them warmly, with a smile on his face, not forgetting silly things about them that makes him laugh. Through all of it, Topaz said not a single word, and Steven hoped that, because of this and with her eyes almost shut, she was actually imagining everything he told her.

"Sounds nice," admitted Topaz, still staring, hooded, at the innards of the sarcophagus. "I'd like to see your home. Maybe you could show me around sometime."

Steven, inspired, couldn't believe her words! "Yeah! That'd be great!"

Amethyst interposed, "Steven, she's just trying to trick you. Don't forget why she's here."

"Oh. Right," said Steven.

"If you let me out," said Topaz, coolly, "I might just be inclined to share a few secrets with you."

"Yeah, that's not happenin'," said Amethyst.

Steven shifted again. "So," he said, "you wanna tell me something about _your_ home?"

Topaz grabbed the bridge of her big nose. "Shut up."

Amethyst told Topaz the same thing. Topaz told Amethyst she could go die.

Steven was getting stifled! He wanted to do something for her, but she was giving him impossibly little to work with, and if he pushed again by saying he wanted to help her, he knew the response he'd get. He had to go about this from a different angle. He thought about trying to sneak information out of her, like the great sleuths do in the movies. But, he wasn't that great at lying or disinforming. Then, he thought about trying good cop-bad cop for real this time, but thought that'd be silly, no matter how game Amethyst might be. He could tell her jokes to get her in a good mood, but then that was sillier, and, if anything, would probably just irritate her. Then he thought, _what matters most to a person?_ Other people he soon concluded, and so he had reason to hope Gems weren't _that_ different. "How do you know Peridot?"

"Go away."

"Is she your friend?"

"Go. _Away_. _"_

"What kind of hobbies does someone like her have?"

Topaz wriggled like a stick of dynamite went off inside her, and leered at Steven. She shot one of her fingers at him as if it were a gun with a hair-trigger, blowing away his smile. "Listen, you little mother—!"

"Hey!" exclaimed Amethyst, "Don't you talk to Steven like that!—"

"No one's talking to you!" Topaz trained her gun on Amethyst. "Shut up, you purple pile of—!"

"Where do you get off, huh?! Did you forget _you're_ the one stuck in a box?!—"

"Just wait till I get out of here!—"

"Then, I guess I'll be waiting forever, seeing as your _never_ getting out!" Amethyst hopped down from the sarcophagus, while Topaz kept shouting nasty things (some words in particular Steven was virgin to). "C'mon, Steven!"

"But, Amethyst," he said.

"Let's go!" With Topaz yelling at him and Amethyst—more like exorcizing them—to leave, Steven conceded and hopped down, a little less reluctant than he wanted himself to be. "Have fun rotting in there!" said Amethyst, pounding the sarcophagus' sternal button, shutting out Topaz, though, to Amethyst's distaste, not her voice.

Amethyst leapt, with Steven in hand, up to the roots, and just before she pushed him up through the puddle to her room, he heard Topaz exclaim, "I'm going to rip your Gem out of your disgusting little belly and shove it up your—" _Splash!—_ The water hit him, and he didn't hear her finish her sentence—and he was pretty sure he didn't want to. He had never in his life been so berated by anyone, much less seen hate _spill_ out of anyone's mouth, and eyes, and nose, and finger; it honestly made him sick to his stomach. What in the name of everything causes someone to be so terrible to someone else? Steven certainly wanted to know.

Amethyst emerged with color in her cheeks. She grunted and kicked some sand. She said, "Steven, we're not going back in there. Not ever!"

"But I just—"

"I said no!" She tromped toward the Temple door, and Steven, unsettled, followed her.


	4. Chapter 4

It was the next day. The sun was bright and beaming in through the windows, and Steven and the Crystal Gems were sitting in the middle of the living space, taking on the arduous task of folding Steven's monstrous pile of laundry. Steven had only recently come to learn that most people wash their clothes on a weekly basis. Maybe it was because he had so many clothes that his household took to washing them once a month. Pearl was sitting next to him on her knees, humming delightfully, folding Steven's shirts, framing the stars on them in perfect little squares. Garnet was sitting across, cross-legged, just folding. Amethyst was sitting on his other side, slumped, folding his clothes lazily, sure to leave wrinkles in them (it took all of Pearl's willpower to ignore this, hence the humming. She'd refold them later). Steven was still trying to get the hang of folding. Lion was over by the couch, snoozing, twitching his tail.

There was something in the way Amethyst sat, heavier than usual, that gave Steven the impression of yesterday. Garnet might have noticed it, too, but maybe she was preoccupied with the same thing. Steven gingerly placed another pair of his underwear on the apropos stack, then looked around at everyone. What a tableau—everyone plucking clothes from the same pile, yet keeping utterly to themselves like islands.

"So… what's everybody been up to today?" This wasn't the question he was trying to ask.

Pearl immediately piped up, saying, "Oh, early this morning I finally got around to finishing maintenance on my sword collection, which, now I'll have to start again seeing as there are so many." She brightened at this opportunity Steven gave her. "I swear, if humans hadn't exchanged steel weaponry for ones of mass destruction frankly I don't know what I'd do. Then I watched the sunrise—"

"Because you were watching me?" giggled Steven—this talking made him feel better—no more islands.

"Yes, well," Pearl continued, pretending it was nothing, "then I set out your clothes, made you breakfast, and woke you up. Later on, after you had gone out, I cleaned your room: swept, mopped, washed the dishes, cleaned the counters, busy, busy," she tittered.

Garnet behind her shades, said, "I had already swept and mopped earlier."

Pearl was cornered. "W-well…" Amethyst snickered at her, which she didn't like. " _Hm!_ I just like to make sure things are in order for Steven! What have _you_ been doing all day?"

"Nuh'n much," said Amethyst.

 _"_ _Typical._ And you can't even fold Steven's clothes right, they're going to get _wrinkled."_

"Oh, yeah?!" barked Amethyst, "I'll wrinkle you—"

"Enough!" said Garnet. They sat for a moment, then Amethyst got up staunchly and trudged off to her Room. Oh, how should things turn out this way?

Everyone went back to folding on their little islands. They finished (Pearl redid Amethyst's stacks) and put away the laundry, then went about their business. Steven followed Garnet out onto the shoreline again (she'd been spending more and more time away from the Temple, and Steven could guess why). He played with the water washing and receding around his feet. Garnet just stood there. Steven saw an opportunity with what just happened. He asked, "Why do Pearl and Amethyst have to fight all the time?"

Garnet simply said, "Conflict of interest."

"What, like, they're interested in fighting each other?"

"Not exactly. Their personalities clash. One wants one way, the other wants another. When someone or something opposes those wants, it can make them bitter."

 _"_ _Bitter…"_ Steven digested the word. "But, we're a part of a team, right?"

"Steven, it's nothing to worry about. Everyone has arguments sometimes. Pearl and Amethyst, even if they're on the same team, they're personalities are very different."

"And that makes them _bitter_ towards one another?"

"Sometimes, yes."

"What if they weren't on a team? Like, on the opposite team. Would that make a difference in how they treat each other?"

Garnet looked at Steven now, making him a little nervous. _"Then_ they might be interested in fighting each other," she said.

"Okay," was all he said, and with that, Steven went on a stroll down the beach, toward town. Even though Garnet gave him some enlightenment, he wasn't exactly content with what she'd told him, feeling there was something deeper to be dug up. Approaching town he thought about his dad, and decided it'd been awhile since they last spent time together.

It'd been a slow day at the car wash, and his dad was real happy to see him. Steven was happy, too. They spent the afternoon just hanging out, talking about silly things and fiddling with the six-string, singing a little bit, and his dad even showed him a thing or two on his soundboard, then they shared a pizza. By evening, when the sun was about to start setting and Steven and his dad were just enjoying each other's company in the peace of it, Steven started to think about things again, and thought it a good idea to get advice from more than one source. He was much more at ease with his father, but it still wasn't easy for him to figure out how to bring it up, so, eventually, he just went for it. "Dad. Why are some people bitter?"

 _"_ _Bitter?"_ his dad said, checking Steven. "Where's this coming from all of a sudden? Is something going on with the Gems?"

"Well, not with Garnet or Amethyst or Pearl, but… I've been thinking about the _other_ Gems. I mean, even if someone is on the other team, what causes someone to be so mean and hateful?"

"…Woof! That's a loaded question, buddy." His dad scratched his head. "Um, well… when it comes to the _other_ Gems, I guess it's just got a lot to do with fighting for their side, ya know? And also a lack of understanding with each other, I suppose. I mean… ugh, I'm not really the best person to answer that sort of question."

Steven knew his dad was talking about war, which was perhaps much more complex than what he really tried to ask him. "Mm. What if there were no sides? Like, just normal people, or something. What would make someone mean to others, even if they haven't done anything to them? Not on purpose, anyway?"

His dad hummed, "As much as I can figure, it's got something to do with that they've been denied a lot in their life or have come across a lot of troubles or obstacles, and instead of avoiding them or brushing them off or outgrowing them, they choose to hold onto them, even confront those problems and any others that come their way head on sometimes, and I suppose all that just kind of _becomes_ them. Does that make any sense?"

"I guess… well, why do they choose to be like that? It seems like it only makes everyone sad."

"You couldn't be more right, son. … That question, too, I can't really answer. It just depends on who they are. Everyone's got different reasons for things: I've thought a lot about it myself, actually, and the best way I've come to see it is that there's something out there that keeps them going whether they realize it or not—a reason that they keep fighting, so that maybe it'll pay off in the end, ya know? …I don't like you worrying about this kind of stuff. You're too young for—"

Steven deeply gasped in revelation! He hugged his dad, then shouted, "Thanks for the advice, dad!—gotta go!—had fun today!—love you!—bye," and ran for home.

Before he was too far, all his dad could stumble out was, "Wha—uh—love you, too!"

Steven ran all the way home, and by the time he got there he was right sweaty and panting and had a stitch in his side. He went inside to find Amethyst pretend-sleeping on the couch. Lion was _still_ sleeping at the foot of the couch, but Steven had woken him and he seemed full of feline contempt.

"Ame—thyst…" panted Steven, "Amethyst…"

Amethyst stirred. "Mm, keep it down, Steven."

"But… Amethyst. We've got to go back in there. I know what to—"

 _"_ _No."_

"But—"

Amethyst sat up on her elbows, "I told you never again. It's not our problem, and I'm not going to pretend it is. So learn to deal with it." She flipped over, away from Steven. "Garnet can handle it," she said solemnly.

"I…" Amethyst pretended to snore loudly to make him go away. Lion was particularly salty toward them both and begrudgingly got up. Seeing no other option, Steven was hit with a wonderful idea. He crooned, "Lion!"


	5. Chapter 5

Through a big pink interdimensional portal, Steven, on Lion's back teleported into the Bubble Chamber. They slid semi-gracefully to a stop. Garnet was not there.

Steven gave Lion a big hug, hopped down and said thank you. Lion looked at him as if that surely wasn't enough to compensate. Or maybe it's just how Lion always looks, Steven wasn't sure. He promised Lion a whole fish from Fish-Stew Pizza later. Steven thought that Lion thought that that was better.

Anyway. Lion sauntered beside Steven as he made for Topaz's sarcophagus. He climbed, with some exertion, on top of it. Then he took a deep breath, and mashed the button—and as soon as the diamond face slid back, Topaz _screamed_ at Steven! He jolted and nearly fell to the floor. Lion perked up, and Topaz chuckled to herself.

Steven righted himself. "That wasn't very nice," he said. Topaz stopped laughing, and looked at him like he was stupid. Lion loomed over the sarcophagus and peered into the face-hole. Topaz eyeballed Lion suspiciously as he sniffed about her and grumbled at her. Steven introduced him, then said, "How have you been?"

"Still _stuck."_ Topaz said more than what she said.

Steven wasn't very sure about what to say next. "Do you wanna… talk about anything?"

"Not unless you want to talk about what I'll do to _you_ and the rest of your bunch once I get out of here."

Lion snorted and wrinkled his snout. Steven petted him, then got an idea. He reached into Lion's mane, saying, "Oh, I don't know, let me just _think_ about that." He pulled out a thinking cap, complete with a little light bulb, and put it over his big curly hair, and rubbed his chin like a little Thinker. Topaz obviously didn't get it. Then Steven clicked on the light bulb, and tried again, saying, "Boy, all this thinking sure his making my head _spin,_ " and he retrieved a pair of glasses which had vibrant swirls where its optics should be and he spun them, feigning dizziness. Topaz's brow sank.

Steven thought once more, then reached into Lion's mane a third time for his ukulele. "Everyone likes music," he said, jovially. Topaz's lips nearly parted in fear.

Steven strummed and sung.

"You sailed to Earth over the stars,  
If I didn't know any better I'd say you're from Mars,  
There's so much fight in you, Topaz,  
I know you've got a pretty mean pizazz!  
But why can't you see that I'm just trying to  
Reach out to you—"

"Stop!" she yelled. The ukulele quirked. "Stop. Just stop, you insufferable trash. I'd rather be shattered than deal with you."

Steven put his props away. "All I've ever tried to do is help you, why do you have to be so mean?" he said.

"Why do you have to be in everyone's business?"

Zero hour. "Look," said Steven, "I get it. You're not proud of what you did or what happened in the past, so you try to cover it up with all this meanness, being tough. But, you're dwelling on it too much. You can't let those things become you, or make you become someone you never wanted to be, o-or never meant to be. They don't define who you are, but you learn from them, to make a better future. You can be whoever you want to be."

"Who are you to say? You don't know anything about me," hurled Topaz.

"No, I don't. But I can see that you're _afraid."_

The blustering winds of Boreas dared to challenge Topaz. "AFRAID!?" she screamed, and she hit the bars that kept her from Steven with her forehead; she hit hard and the bars burned her—they seared their shape into her. It frightened Steven. He urged her to stop. "How dare you say I'm afraid! What could I possibly be afraid of?!"

Steven planted himself over her and said, "To lose the one thing you have left!"

"And what's that, huh?! My existence?! I'm not afraid to die!"

 _"_ _Hope."_

Boreas blew her off a bridge. _"…Hope?"_ She headbutted the bars again, and again. Her forehead was starting to deconstruct. "Yeah, I hope for a lot of things! My biggest hope is getting my filthy hands on you and showing you what I'm really made of!"

"Stop! You're hurting yourself!"

She didn't stop. "Shut up! Who are you to tell me who I am?! I don't hope for anything! I am who I am because I want to be this way! I bet you do this just to make yourself feel superior! Is that how you give your worthless life purpose?! Feeding off of others?! Just like your _'mother!'_ Isn't that it, you disgusting little _freak?!"_

Lion roared at her, making her grab her ears. Steven's little heart was racing. He pushed Lion's shoulder, backing him off. Steven looked back down at Topaz, whose face, even though she was furious, was a battered mess. Steven was hurt too, though. "You shouldn't talk to people like that," he said.

Topaz glared at him. "AGH! Just get off me! Get away from me! Don't ever come back!" Steven, feeling there was nothing more to do, and anxious, jumped down from the sarcophagus. He closed the face-hole and hurriedly ushered Lion with him. Topaz screamed and screamed, and writhed. It flustered Steven in a pitiful and repulsive way. He climbed onto Lion's back, and Lion roared, creating another interdimensional portal. Lion galloped for it. "Get me out! Let me out! I'm so stuck! LET! ME! OUT—"

Topaz's voice distorted and vanished. Through the portal, Steven felt Lion's muscles as they skirted to a stop at the foot of the hill below the lighthouse.

…

Steven was sitting out under the deck with Pearl just watching the waves and the stars. Pearl wasn't talking. They were just reclining together and hearing the waves.

Steven was consciously stuck on Topaz being stuck from a few hours ago, from the moments since he and she met, to maybe even before that. He was concerned on what he learned from his dad in connection to her. Did she let Homeworld become her? This could explain the other Gems from Homeworld. Or was it something else? Surely no one's cruel and heartless by nature. Right? But, on second thought, Steven told himself that surely Topaz has a heart because she was fighting so much for it.

The sound of the screen door opening and shutting above him and Pearl _un_ stuck him. From the weight and the gait of the footfalls Steven could tell it was Garnet, and suddenly the cool night air felt stifling. The boards creaked under her as she tromped down the stairs. Anticipatory-reflux rose in Steven, but he didn't dare move, trying to act like nothing. Garnet approached them, and Pearl greeted her with a glance.

Garnet stood there behind her shades. After a moment, she livened, "You've been sneaking around behind my back, haven't you?"

Pearl sat up and looked at Garnet—maybe thinking first she was talking to her—then to Steven. "He's been doing what?" she said.

"Garnet!" piped Steven, sitting up.

Garnet said only to him, "Talking to Topaz."

Pearl, in a passion, threw her arms up and stood up. "He's been doing _WHAT?!"_

Steven didn't stand. "She told you?!" he said.

"No," said Garnet. "She didn't have to."

Pearl palmed her own cheeks. "How on earth could you… _AMETHYST!"_ she squawked, and danced upstairs, with dainty fists of fury.

"Garnet, I—"

"You're grounded," she said.

"But, Garnet!" pleaded Steven, standing now.

"No television."

"Please!"

"No video games."

"Listen!"

"Upstairs. Now."

Garnet turned to leave, _expecting_ Steven to follow. "Wait!" he said.

She stopped with a foot on a step, and muscled, _"Steven."_

"What are you going to do with her?!"

"You need to stay away from her."

"But, _what_ are you _doing_ with her?"

Garnet looked at him again. "Let's _go,_ Steven."

"Sh-she's only getting more and more frustrated!"

"So she _will,"_ Garnet snapped, "Everyone has their breaking point. She'll give in soon enough."

Steven was taken aback. He could hear Pearl and Amethyst fighting upstairs. "But, y-you can't keep her there forever."

"'Forever' is something I've _got,"_ she said. "Now, come on. Don't make me have to carry you." She started up the stairs again.

Steven, frantic with energy and uncertainty, needed to say anything. "Wh-what would you do?!" he exclaimed. "What if you were in _her_ place?!"

Garnet stopped halfway up the stairs. Her body-language was unreadable. "…It's your _bedtime,_ Steven."

…

Later, while in bed, Steven was exhausted from an hour ago and the hour before that, and the day with his dad, and with concern. Being grounded wasn't going to bode easily with him, for he felt he must _do_ something. What that something was, he was too tired to act on now or comprehend, as he got a few strange and dreamy ideas that wouldn't make any sense in the morning. It didn't take long for him to fall deeply asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Steven spent the next day with his toes in the sand and the water, thinking about yesterday and more. He called Connie and talked to her about it. "Gosh, Steven, that's some intense stuff," she'd said.

"I guess."

"Do _you_ think she'll ever give up any information?"

"I don't know," he'd said. "Definitely not anytime soon, though."

"Well, I mean, it sounds to me like there's nothing more you can do. You tried all you could and that's what matters."

"Maybe… but I just don't feel right about it all. Like things aren't being done in the best way, and are for the wrong reasons."

Connie had replied, "What else can you do, Steven?"

Steven had sorted his thoughts by the third day and was fairly confident in them, but anxious. The Crystal Gems went on a mission which he wasn't allowed. When they were gone, he woke Lion from his morning nap.

They teleported into Garnet's Room and Steven found it less welcoming than usual, but he was here on a mission of his own. He crawled up on the sarcophagus and mashed its sternum.

Topaz looked at him incredulously. "What are you _doing_ here? Why are you so _stupid?"_

Steven looked straight at her. "Topaz," he said, "I'm letting you out." More incredulously and dumbstruck, she was for once at a loss for words. Steven went on, "So, uh, how do I open this thing?"

It took a second for her to process his question. "Displace the shape that adorns the face, and fit it into the indentation in the side below the hip." Steven followed her instructions, exerting himself to yank free a red diamond, which was engirdled in a removable mounting, from the sarcophagus' hood—Steven thought he felt the bars over Topaz's face cool down when the diamond came loose. He then found where it fit in the divot about the pelvis. The diamond sunk into it, then reemerged faceted on the end of a handlebar. "Push," said Topaz. Steven did, the handle ground heavily along the contour of the sarcophagus—up its length, over its head then down its other side. Steven, sweating, rounded its feet—then caught glimpse of silhouettes opposing him at the far end of the Room. His stomach flipped in terror.

Garnet erupted, _"STEVEN!"_ She, Pearl and Amethyst all rushed for him, summoning their weapons, screaming for him to stop. Topaz urged him to hurry. And as Steven pushed, Lion growled and huffed, and all the Gems screamed—everything honed in on him, even the bubbles and the roots, and he couldn't feel anything other than his core that pushed him. And as the Crystal Gems made halfway, Steven passed under the pelvis of the sarcophagus again—and as he did, it resounded with a backbreaking _crack_ —and Steven could've sworn he felt a little vibration ripple through him and the air. All the noise stopped, and so did the Crystal Gems.

Nothing happened for a moment. Then Topaz said, "Get this off of me!" Steven pushed again, on the façade of the sarcophagus, and Garnet sprinted to him. The façade was very heavy, and even with Lion's help, they only managed to push the lid a few inches before Garnet grabbed Steven and tossed him to Pearl and Amethyst who safely caught him.

Garnet shoved Lion, too, and started to pull back the façade. "Garnet, wait!" shouted Steven; Pearl squeezed him more. Then, in a fury, Topaz yelled and muscled upward with her powerful legs, pivoting the weight of the lid over into Garnet's arms. Garnet braced herself under it, and Topaz leapt out of the sarcophagus without hesitation up to the hanging roots. Garnet hefted the façade and heaved it out of her arms and to the floor—it landed _hard,_ cracking the ground; and from the underside of the lid, Steven saw nasty spikes protruding past its rim, all deep enough to have gone straight through Topaz.

Topaz hung from one of the mighty roots, and she looked wild, her eyes darting to and from all of them and everywhere else. Garnet summoned her gauntlets. "Get Steven out of here!" she commanded. Amethyst and Pearl ran for the door with him. Garnet leapt into the air at Topaz, and Topaz swung herself to more roots, then leapt off of those and started popping bubbles. Corrupted Gems rained down, and took on small physical forms. There were many of them, and most of them were ones Steven had never seen before. They were confused and scared and angry, and some fought each other. They were everywhere, and Pearl and Amethyst, with Steven, kicked some out of the way. Seeing all of this hurt Steven. He was hurting.

Garnet chased Topaz, knocking corrupted Gems out of the way, too. Topaz ran and jumped, far and fast, directionless. She threw little Gem monsters behind her. Then she summoned her sword and threw it into the ground. It exploded between her and Garnet who deterred. Topaz did that repeatedly, cratering the floor and throwing dust and little Gems into the air. Lava spilled out of the well. Garnet dove into the smokescreen Topaz's swords had made.

Garnet's door was already open for Pearl, Amethyst and Steven, through the arches. Steven was clutching Pearl, scared, while Amethyst made the way for them. Looking back he saw Topaz out of the dust and looking everywhere, around all the screaming. She focused in on someplace on the ceiling, and went for it, greatly, without hesitation. Then he, in Pearl's arms, fell through Garnet's door and into the beach house. Amethyst beat back little Gems that were trying to get out. Pearl let go of Steven, demanded he stay put, and joined Amethyst with her spear. The last thing Steven saw, though the horrible _mess,_ was Garnet reaching out her hands toward him. Her door sealed shut, and then everything went strangely, painfully quiet.

Lion was not with Steven. He wiped his eyes. He knew what they were doing—what they had to do. He didn't want this. He felt at fault. Steven went upstairs to his bed and waited. All he wanted was to help the ones who need it.

When Garnet's door opened hours later, Steven stiffened. He was thoroughly reprimanded, but what he really needed was a hug.

They didn't find Topaz. She was still in the Temple somewhere.

That night, before Steven fell asleep, the thought crossed his mind and he wondered just how long had all of those little Gems been kept in there.


	7. Chapter 7

Steven was without Lion. He had messaged Connie and his dad and other contacts that he was grounded, a brief detail why, and that they may not hear from him for awhile. His phone was taken. He didn't much know what to do with himself. He could read or play with his toys, but he hardly felt up to either. Amethyst played cards with him sometimes, but things were still weird. A tension was recognizable, or maybe it was just him.

One day when he and Amethyst were in the middle of such, Pearl came from the Temple with Garnet, gabbing at her, saying, "She's probably in Amethyst's Room. There are so many places for her to hide in there. We need to check again. Or, at least, seal it off entirely."

"Hey!" spat Amethyst. "I'm right here, ya know!"

Pearl put her hands to her hips. "I _know_ she's in there!"

Amethyst got up. "What do you know? She could be in _your_ Room!"

"That's impossible," Pearl snooted. "I would have noticed if she were in _my_ Room."

"Yeah, if you could ever see past that big _nose_ of yours! It's so big, she's probably underneath it!"

Pearl was shot. _"EXCUSE ME?!"_

"That's enough!" shouted Garnet, showing a little more than her shades. Both Pearl and Amethyst pouted like children and they all went to other things. Steven and Amethyst never finished their game.

Later that day, Steven was up in his loft, at his window. Lion was lounging in the shade outside. Steven held one of his adventurous action figures up to his window and made believe it was encountering a ferocious pink beast. The figure approached warily, daunted by the size of things. Albeit it pushed forward, slowly, cautiously, uncertain as to what it was in for. It neared the beast, and as the figure raised its sword above its head, the beast stirred and stretched and yawned, sending the little hero flying far away into a foreign land of plush cottons and fabric.

Steven picked up the little adventurer again and began walking it across his bed, when the Temple door opened. Steven heard a struggle come with it. Amethyst, on the couch, gasped and screamed for Pearl, then Garnet. A weight lodged itself in Steven, and he ran downstairs. Garnet tore into the house before Steven made it to the floor. Lion was behind her. She summoned her gauntlets. Downstairs, Steven was hit with the sight of Pearl in Topaz's clutches—one hand around Pearl's wrist, the other gripping her cranium, and her braid was wrapped around Pearl's other wrist. Topaz's height also hit Steven. Pearl looked beat up.

Topaz mushed her forward, away from the Temple door. Steven cried, "Topaz, let her go! Please!"

Topaz replied, "Keep screaming. It'll be good for her." Steven didn't understand. Garnet took some strict steps forward. "Don't try anything you'll regret!" Garnet stopped, and Steven could feel the tension in her muscles. Amethyst didn't know what to do either. She was gripping the coffee table tentatively.

Topaz pushed Pearl up onto the warp pad. Pearl cried, "Stop!... You can't!—You won't get away with this!"

"Quiet," said Topaz. She looked over Pearl at everyone else, then settled on Steven. He was hit a third time. "Don't even think to follow me." Topaz shoved Pearl—hard—throwing her to the ground. As soon as she left Topaz's grip, Garnet sprinted forward. Topaz warped away before she made it. Garnet, too, warped away.

Steven, Amethyst and Lion all went over to Pearl, who was sniffling and getting up. "Pearl!" said Steven. "Are you okay?" He hugged her.

She hugged back and sniffled. "Steven, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Amethyst growled, "Where'd she go? I swear, I'll jank her up twice as bad!"

"I don't," snapped Pearl, then, mollified, "…know where she went. I'm just glad she's gone." Amethyst said nothing else. Steven cried, and she cried, too.

Garnet came back, without Topaz. Lion was allowed back in the house.


	8. Chapter 8

It was weeks later. Steven got his phone back, but he still didn't have television. He had only recently been allowed to go on missions again, and this was his second mission out in a long time—in Steven-time anyway. They warped to a rainforested peninsula that ran and echoed for many miles. Hiding under the tropical treetops and undergrowth were strange and very dilapidated pieces of machinery—discombobulated things that embraced the odd shapes and styles—some of which looked like wind instruments—that Steven had come to be familiar with. The warp pad itself was embedded in the midst of something ancient and metal and inconspicuous with all the green growing over it. Whatever its purpose, it was broken and jagged, uneven, and it reminded Steven of a dome lid to a big silver platter. But, boy, was it humid here!

Steven and the Crystal Gems split into two groups—Garnet and Pearl, Amethyst and Steven—and went in opposing directions. They were here to find whatever anomaly that had caused a breach in atmospheric pressure over this area about half an hour ago. The GPS on Peridot's escape pod had detected it—which came as a surprise since no one knew it could detect such, nor had it detected any warp pad activity—other than their own—for some time. "So what do you think caused it?" Steven asked Amethyst.

"Eh," was all she said, shrugging it off.

"Aw, c'mon, you don't think it was something like a really big bird monster flapping its wings, like Archimicarus! Or a _beanstalk!_ In a place like this, I bet it could be!" he said with wonder.

"Nah. From what I heard it was something small, so it was probably just a space rock, but Garnet wanted to check it out."

Steven hummed a little in disappointment. It was difficult to see much sky. "Well, how are we gonna know where it is in all this forest? What if whatever it is, is still up there? Maybe if we climb one of these trees we can get a better view," he said, and alley-ooped for the nearest kapok tree, which was at least thirty Stevens in girth. Despite his earnest efforts, he childishly slid down to the roots.

Amethyst chuckled, "Better let me handle this." She shapeshifted into a ring-tailed lemur, and started up the tree. Steven wiped the sweat from his brow and watched Amethyst until he couldn't see her anymore. He stood there for a moment when his ears picked up something through the ambience. It sounded different, like people talking. He thought for a second it was somehow Pearl and Garnet. He tried to find it, and started in the direction he thought it coming from.

Steven pushed through the undergrowth, and nearly tripped and fell over a piece of machinery. He could see the rainforest opening up, see the edge of it—and the voices were getting audible. Steven slinked as quietly as he could.

"Have you ever thought what existence would be like without anything?" one voice said. _Topaz?—_ Steven's stomach sunk, and somehow he managed to walk even quieter.

"What are you talking about?" said another voice, which Steven recognized to be Peridot. "Why have you been just standing there?"

"What are you doing here?" said Topaz.

"What am _I_ doing here? What are _you_ doing here? You haven't left this spot for several Earth days, just staring at nothing, like a _dunce_." Steven could glimpse them now, through two trees. Just beyond was a scary-looking cliff, which Topaz was overlooking, toward the horizon. Peridot was facing her, calling her names. After she finished, she just exhaled, flustered. Topaz kept gazing outward. In the wind, she said, strangely, "I can't remember the last time I slept."

"What?We don't _need_ to sleep."

"I _know_ that."

 _"_ _That_ you know. Do you know why you haven't moved? What are you _doing_ here?"

 _"_ _Nothing."_

"That's right, nothing! You haven't even attempted to seek and make contact with anyone. I had to breach the atmosphere because you were doing _nothing."_

"Shouldn't you be Home by now?" Topaz said with some venom.

"I haven't left the quadrant, idiot!" Peridot said with more. Topaz didn't reply, but instead breathed and quivered. Steven was scared, maybe for Peridot, but Peridot didn't back down. "Why don't you quit obsessing over _nothing,_ and let's go."

Topaz stopped breathing and shaking. As straight as possible, she said, "Have you ever stopped to look at planets like this one?"

Peridot shook her head and jilted her fingers. " _What?"_ she said.

"Before Gem occupation. There's something about them, this one in particular, that feels…" Steven had to pee because he was being so quiet. _"…Weightless."_ He saw Topaz give the faintest turn of her head, not toward the ocean, but back toward Peridot. Her braided hair gave it away.

Peridot said, "Where did this come from? I don't understand you."

"I can _breathe."_

Peridot became very perplexed. "We don't need to _breathe."_

"I _know,"_ she growled. "…I'm made to want to." Steven had no idea what she meant by this.

Peridot's fingers dangled loosely. She said, "You've finally _cracked_ , haven't you. You're insane." Topaz's posture doubled over, like someone punched her in the stomach. Peridot moved for her. "Let me see your Gem."

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Peridot seized herself, and she and Steven both braced for impact. Topaz's braid wrapped itself around her neck. She formed words. "Go," she said. "…Just. Go…"

Peridot slowly crossed her arms. _"Fine,"_ she said through her nose. She started away. "I'll be on the ship, when you're done."

Peridot turned and walked away, toward the forest, but it was Topaz who kept Steven's attention. He was a rubbernecker.

Topaz turned, slowly, as if she were rusty, to watch Peridot go. Her expression was stretched in a scary way, and she was twitching. She stood very tall, rigid, with her hair still around her. She had a _massive_ tear that started rolling down her cheek. Topaz brought two fingers to her cheek and caught it. She didn't have to look at it. She almost pointed her tear at Peridot. It hung on her finger. The wind blew over the precipice. Topaz curled her tear into her fist, as taut as her face. She was so still. The only thing that moved was the grass around her in the wind…. And then she careened backward and over the edge of the cliff.

A sensation rippled through Steven's body and prickled his skin. He screamed, "Topaz!" and ran for her. He surprised Peridot, but then she looked back and looked around. She yelped and ran faster than Steven, and jumped off the cliff.

Steven ran for life. "Topaz! Peridot!" he screamed. He ran to the edge of the cliff and fell to his hands and knees and peered over. It was far. All the way down at the bottom were dangerous rocks and the ocean. He could see them falling, diving. They fell and fell and seemed so distant. Steven gripped the dirt through the grass, holding his breath.

All Steven could see was Peridot, so close to the waves, reaching, then righting herself in midair. She threw up her fingers and they rotated, becoming propellers. But then, she disappeared in a great expansion of smoke. Steven cried, "Oh no! No, no, no!" The waves crashed, and when the smoke dissipated, he saw Peridot writhing in them; he couldn't hear her. He tried calling for her, but she didn't respond. She was reaching through the crevices of the rocks and getting dunked under the waves.

"Yo, Steven!" Amethyst jolted him.

"Amethyst!" he cried.

"What's goin' on? Why'd ya ditch me? And what are those?"

Steven looked next to himself, and saw dead grass in the shape of Topaz's boots. "It's Peridot!" he said, looking down again. Amethyst hurried by him and looked, too. "Topaz got _poofed!"_

"Oh man."

Peridot was flying back up now—up and up. When she got close enough, Steven called for her again. She shot a look up—devastated—and moved away and over him and Amethyst. Peridot had Topaz's Gem tightly in her other hand. Steven and Amethyst jumped up and ran after her. "Stop! Go away! Leave me alone!" she yelled. They followed her all along the cliff's edge.

"Peridot, please!" Steven cried.

"Haven't you caused enough trouble?!"

"Is Topaz alright?! Please, we can help!" Through some rainforest they chased her to a thrush, where her ship was docked—it was smaller than the hand, and was simply a sphere. Peridot swooped down to it as Steven and Amethyst broke through the trees. She ran for it, almost making it, but Garnet and Pearl suddenly emerged from her ship, and Peridot screeched and ran the other way.

Peridot started her fingers again and flew. "You no good Crystal Clods!" she screamed. All the Gems chased her now. "How, how, how could you do this to me?!"

"Peridot!" pleaded Steven again and again. After pursuing her through more trees, she managed to escape over the ocean.

Steven tried to catch more than just his breath. He went through the moments and the motions of what just happened, in disbelief. Steven could swear that just before Topaz fell, she looked right at him.

\- … -

R.A.W. ::: 2/6/16

* * *

 **This is the end of Part 2. I just want to thank everyone who kept to get to this point. It means a lot. I've spent much more time than I thought I ever would discovering who Topaz is, and it's been life changing. It may sound ridiculous to say that, but she has taught me so much on what it takes to create a fully fleshed out character (from appearance to action), in which everything they say or do may not necessarily be attractive, but it's what their story needs, and what the story overall needs. Topaz will be with me for the rest of my life, and to me that sounds good. Again, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the progress of this story. Part 3... It's hard to say when Part 3 will be up. Ideally, in the next month, but that's probably not gonna happen. Ugh! When I do finish it and post it, I'll post an additional chapter on this story, just to say it's up. Until then, my heart will be breaking. Happy Valentine's Day.**


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